Madhubani: At least ten passengers were killed and six others feared dead when a bus fell into a pond along the state highway in Bihar's Madhubani district on Monday. So far, 10 bodies have been fished out of the pond, Superintendent of Police Deepak Kumar Barnwal said, adding that six others were feared dead in the mishap.

Representational image. CNN-News18

The accident took place at Basaitha chowk under Bennipatti police station in Madhubani, about 50 km from the district headquarters. The private bus, carrying 65 passengers, was on way to Sitamarhi from Madhubani when the mishap took place on the state highway. Some of the passengers swam to safety.

The bus was pulled out of the pond with the help of a crane and search operation was on for the missing people. In Patna, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed deep sorrow and said in a statement that reason of the accident was being looked into.

He instructed officials to speed up relief and rescue operation. Kumar instructed Revenue minister Madan Mohan Jha and Panchayati Raj minister Kapildeo Kamat to rush to the accident spot. The SP and other policemen, who faced resistance from the villagers who were angry over delay in reaching of crane and pelted stones at them, managed to reach the spot after additional reinforcement came in.

A team of SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) has reached the mishap site. The CM has also issued instruction to provide assistance to the victims.